Staff members at Wrexham’s super prison have claimed a lack of “control, order and discipline” has made the facility unsafe.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) have spoken out about a “culture of fear” among staff members at the £250m HMP Berwyn , which opened 12 months ago.

The POA’s chairman Mark Fairhurst told BBC Wales’ Newyddion 9 programme that security was being compromised at the prison , with officers told not to involve themselves immediately if they see prisoners and visitors exchanging packages.

He said they were told to “allow that visit to continue and then to search the prisoner once the visit is complete, by which time of course the substance will be secreted or passed on”.

“It might not be drugs that’s getting passed on during visits, it could be something more serious,” he said.

Allegations were also made of evidence going missing after reports of inappropriate behaviour and managers allowing inmates to stay out of cells during an alarm.

Other staff members raised allegations of “bullying” from managers, with allegations of a “complete disregard for the safety of staff” at HMP Berwyn.

One resignation letter alleges an occasion when managers “completely undermined” the officers “and gave the men what they wanted”, by telling an officer to “go away” in front of the inmates.

Mr Fairhurst added: “We all want Berwyn to be a success...but let’s be honest, the fundamentals and the basics include security, control, order and discipline.

“If you haven’t got that foundation, everything else will fail.

“The culture of fear is surrounding the lack of confidence for prisoners who display threatening, violent or anti-social behaviour. That has to cease.”

A Prison Service spokesman said: “We do not tolerate violence against our hard-working staff, and will always push for the strongest punishment for those found guilty.

“HMP Berwyn is performing well since it opened last year, and represents a key part of our £1.3billion investment to reform and modernise the prison estate.

“But we know more must be done to improve safety across the estate, which is why we introduced body-worn cameras and additional CCTV, and have invested £100m to recruit 2,500 extra officers.

“The prison also meets regularly with the POA to understand the concerns of their members, and to feedback on any relevant progress made.”